POS0352-PARE PODCAST FOR RHEUMATISM SUFFERERS AND THEIR RELATIVES
Authors: M. Siber, T. Spichtig
Journal: Annals of the Rheumatic Diseases (2022)

Background Two million people in Switzerland suffer from rheumatic diseases. The Swiss League against Rheumatism is committed to helping those affected. It provides them and their relatives with professional, neutral information on the subject of rheumatism. The Swiss League against Rheumatism has been publishing the podcast series “Rheumatism in person” since 2021. In it, affected people discuss relevant and current topics about living with rheumatism with experts. Another aim is to devote time to the personal experiences of sufferers. The pool of experts includes medical specialists, nutritionists, social counsellors and psychologists. Objectives The Swiss League against Rheumatism, as the national umbrella organisation, is expanding its communication services via the podcast in order to reach even more people with rheumatism in Switzerland. This makes it is possible to increasingly address a younger, digital-savvy target group and to expand the service proposed for this target group. The podcasts are primarily aimed at people with chronic forms of rheumatism between the ages of 25 and 50 and their relatives in German-speaking Switzerland. A further aim is to bring the opinions of those affected to the attention of the public, as well as to provide information from specialists, thereby creating greater awareness of the disease. Methods Each podcast episode is about 30 minutes long. According to experience, this length is the most popular with most listeners, whilst also allowing complex topics to be explored in depth. The podcasts are issued monthly. This enables listeners to be prepared for a fixed release date. The episodes are produced in cooperation with a podcast agency. The advantage of an agency lies in its expertise and experience, especially in the technical field. Funding for the podcast episodes can be secured from sponsors. “When things get complicated – social counselling for rheumatism”, “Sport and rheumatism – anything but a contradiction” or “Rare forms of rheumatism – lupus, EDS &amp; co.” are popular episode titles, to name but a few. The podcasts are available on various international podcast platforms. The episodes are distributed via blog posts, existing newsletters and social media (Facebook, Instagram and LinkedIn). External distribution channels are used in the form of the interviewees’ networks, the “Junge mit Rheuma” (young people with rheumatism) group, national patient organisations, cantonal/regional rheumatism leagues, the Swiss Society of Rheumatology and any media coverage attracted. Results So far, the eleven episodes and accompanying trailer have been downloaded or streamed over 8,200 times by 5,300 unique listeners. All eleven topics were of great interest. The episode on “Anti-inflammatory nutrition” generated the most downloads (1,550), closely followed by the episode on “The coronavirus pandemic with rheumatism”, which reached just under 1,300 downloads (as of 21 January 2022). On 15 March 2021, the podcast series also made it onto the podium of a well-known podcast chart in the field of medicine. This clearly shows that there is a need among rheumatism sufferers and their relatives to obtain information via podcasts. The large quantity of positive feedback from patients, rheumatologists and other health professionals is particularly noteworthy. “From the first second: very interesting topics, well produced and a great voice,” shared a listener. Conclusion The podcast series has proved successful and will therefore be continued as a complementary communication tool for the Swiss League against Rheumatism. In addition to the episodes already released, another ten episodes are planned in German. The Swiss League against Rheumatism is keen to extend the podcast series to the French-speaking part of Switzerland. The idea is therefore to include French episodes in 2022. There are specific plans to record three episodes, which will be broadcast in the second half of the year. The aim is to add more episodes to the French podcast series in the long term. References None More information: Podcast: Rheuma persönlich - Rheumaliga Schweiz Disclosure of Interests Monika Siber Grant/research support from: The Swiss League against Rheumatism has a sponsorship agreement with MSD Merck Sharp &amp; Dohme AG and Pfizer AG for the production of the podcasts. The two companies have no influence on the content of the podcast., Tina Spichtig Grant/research support from: The Swiss League against Rheumatism has a sponsorship agreement with MSD Merck Sharp &amp; Dohme AG and Pfizer AG for the production of the podcasts. The two companies have no influence on the content of the podcast.